The field of this invention relates to dental hygiene devices and more particularly to an apparatus for removing plaque from the teeth and gingival areas of a human being.
The presence of periodontal diseases within human beings has indicated the need for devices to prevent the formation of bacterial plaque colonies in the periodontal areas. It is well established that plaque bacteria is the primary cause of periodontal disease.
The problems of effectively removing plaque from tooth surfaces is well recognized in the dental field. It is recognized that it is difficult to effectively remove plaque from the tooth surfaces adjacent the gum line and the gingival cuff around each tooth and from those surfaces of the teeth that face adjacent teeth. Conventional manual actuated toothbrushes do not properly clean these surfaces.
To get at the inaccessible surfaces and spaces between teeth, dentists usually recommend the use of dental floss. Dental floss, if used properly, is effective to remove both food particles from embrasures existing between adjacent teeth and it is also effective to remove plaque from convex surfaces where the dental floss can be engaged. However, dental floss does not reach into any concave surface or crevice and therefore cannot remove plaque from such surfaces. It is also difficult with dental floss to remove plaque from tongue side surfaces of the teeth and cheek side tooth surfaces near the gum line. Dental floss also suffers a disadvantage in that the user often does not make the most effective use of it. As a practical matter, dental floss cannot be used to clean the spaces between the spaces of orthodontic appliances and teeth or to clean embrasure areas such as those existing between the roots of a tooth and a gum line which has been lowered by periodontal surgery or those embrasure areas existing between a crown or bridgework and an associated tooth or gum surface.
In the past, a number of power driven toothbrushes have been designed and constructed to facilitate cleaning of the teeth. These power driven toothbrushes are normally directed to the concept of reciprocating the toothbrush in a direction either along the length or across the width of the brush head in a wiping type of action. This type of action of the toothbrush is not effective in cleaning embrasures related to surfaces such as deep crevices in molars, tooth surfaces at the gum line, the gingival cuff area and the tooth surfaces of embrasures such as exist in the spaces between adjacent teeth above the gum line.
It is known that in order to effectively remove plaque from teeth, the movement of the toothbrush is not to be in a wiping action but is to be in a probing direction directly toward the teeth. In other words, pushing the toothbrush repeatedly in a direction directly into the teeth and into the gum area of the teeth. This type of movement for a toothbrush is shown and described within U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,852 issued Sept. 7, 1976, inventor Jerry D. Annoni. This Annoni toothbrush is power driven and is designed to reciprocate the bristle head of the brush pushing such in a direction toward the teeth. For some reason unknown to the present inventor, the structure of the Annoni patent is not on the market at the present time. Possibly, one reason it is not available is that the device of Annoni is reasonably complex in construction which would probably result in a high selling price to the consumer.
In the past, it has been proposed to use sonic type of devices to remove plaque on teeth. Reference is to be had to U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,847, issued Nov. 29, 1988 to Roy W. Martin, et al. which discloses such a sonic device. It is anticipated that probably the complexity of construction and the ultimate selling costs of the structure of this patent has prevented this product from being available in the open market.
Up until the present invention, the primary technique that facilitated removal of plaque within the home was by the use of dental floss. The most common way of using dental floss is for the individual to cut off a length of floss from a dental floss dispenser and introduce the length of floss into the mouth with the individual holding the strand of floss taut. Flossing in this manner requires considerable coordination and perseverance. The procedure is not only time consuming, since a complete set of teeth is twenty-eight areas between teeth. Also, putting of one's fingers in one's mouth is not the most desirable of experiences. Not only is it normally inherently distasteful to locate one's fingers in one's mouth, some people are employed in jobs which cause their hands to become deeply stained with contaminates or odorants which makes this physically distasteful for them to place their fingers within their mouths. For example, the hands of an automobile service station worker may become deeply grimed with carbon and the strong odor of gasoline. Still further, the physical working area within one's mouth is confined. The physical size of one's fingers are normally too large to facilitate usage of dental floss within one's mouth.